


i am easy to find

by joshllyman



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dogs, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-06
Updated: 2020-02-06
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:16:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22586233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joshllyman/pseuds/joshllyman
Summary: Daichi arrives at the shelter first thing on a Saturday morning. The doors haven’t actually opened to the public yet, so he sits on a bench and anxiously scrolls through his Twitter feed without absorbing anything he’s reading. Every few seconds he glances up at the door, sees it hasn’t been opened yet, and goes back to his phone. His leg bounces fiercely as he waits.“This seat taken?”
Relationships: Kuroo Tetsurou/Sawamura Daichi
Comments: 20
Kudos: 129
Collections: Haikyuu Secret Santa 2019





	i am easy to find

Daichi has wanted a dog since he was just a kid.

He can distinctly remember the times he’d asked his parents. He had pressed them, telling them how responsible he was and how he would always take care of it. When he was eight he saved his allowance for an entire year to try to pay for the adoption fee. But no amount of begging or pleading could stop his little sister from being allergic to pet dander, so Daichi settled for volunteering at the local shelter through middle and high school. College kept him too busy to volunteer or to adopt a pet of his own. 

Now he lives with Asahi and Suga in a little house just outside of Sendai, and they’ve agreed that they’re ready for a dog.

Daichi has been researching for weeks, closely watching the websites of the local shelters to monitor the dogs they have, reading up on different breeds and considering their different health problems and such. It’s nearly a month into this process when he finds Kyo.

Kyo is a smooth-coated collie with deep brown eyes. According to the shelter’s website, he’s patient, intelligent, friendly, and an excellent walker, all of which are deeply appealing traits to Daichi. There’s something about him that screams “perfect dog,” and Daichi isn’t sure just how he ended up at the shelter, but he’s glad he did. Asahi and Suga look over his profile and approve of him, and Daichi makes plans to go pick him up.

Daichi arrives at the shelter first thing on a Saturday morning. The doors haven’t actually opened to the public yet, so he sits on a bench and anxiously scrolls through his Twitter feed without absorbing anything he’s reading. Every few seconds he glances up at the door, sees it hasn’t been opened yet, and goes back to his phone. His leg bounces fiercely as he waits.

“This seat taken?” 

Daichi looks up; in front of him stands a tall, dark-haired man with incredibly messy hair. Based on hair alone he would guess the man had just rolled out of bed, but his outfit suggests he spent time carefully picking it out; the dark-wash jeans match the shade of blue in the plaid button down he’s wearing over a white t-shirt.  _ Handsome,  _ his brain supplies helpfully, and Daichi tells it to shut up.

“I suppose not,” he answers. He hopes he hasn’t taken too long to spew out a response, but the man seems unperturbed as he sits down beside Daichi. “Sawamura Daichi,” he says, offering him a hand.

“Kuroo Tetsurou,” the man replies. He shakes Daichi’s hand; his grasp is firm, his hands calloused. “Adopting a pet today?”

Daichi offers him a grin. “Not much other reason to be here this early.” 

“S’pose not.” Kuroo’s face reddens just a bit. “Dog or cat?”

“Dog,” Daichi answers. He takes in Kuroo’s appearance. “I take it you’re here for a cat?”

Kuroo squints at him, a curious smile playing over his face. “What makes you say that?”

“You have a few cat hairs on your right thigh,” Daichi observes, and Kuroo looks down at his pants and curses softly as he brushes them off.

“My roommate has a cat,” Kuroo says, pouting with his lip puffed out. “Fluffy little shit. He somehow manages to worm his way into my closet every night and sleep on whatever I intend to wear the next day. I don’t even set it out. He just knows.”

Daichi laughs. “He sounds like a real terror.”

“He’s a nightmare,” Kuroo agrees solemnly. “He gives you these eyes when you’re eating something. I swear he’s looking right into my soul. He’s known me in a past life or something, Sa’amura, he’s a creature from beyond.”

Daichi’s laughing so hard now that his stomach hurts, and he clutches it as Kuroo grins at him. He doesn’t notice as the door to the shelter is unlocked. Kuroo stands and looks down at him.

“Shall we?” he asks, offering a hand to Daichi.

Daichi takes it and pulls himself up; Kuroo’s hazel eyes reflect the sunlight in a way that makes Daichi a little breathless. 

“It’s Sawamura, by the way,” Daichi says as they walk into the shelter. 

Kuroo cocks his head as he opens the door for Daichi. “Huh?”

“You said Sa’amura. It’s Sawamura.”

Kuroo grins at him, and for a moment Daichi imagines the face of his roommate’s cat in Kuroo’s sly look. “Whatever you say, Sa’amura.”

Daichi is about to stumble over a retort when they reach the front desk. A young man with dark lines through his blond hair sighs at them.

“Sign in here,” he says, indicating the binder in front of him. Daichi picks up the pen and signs his name, then hands it to Kuroo. “Who are you here to see?”

“Kyo,” Daichi says, just as Kuroo says, “Kyo.”

Daichi freezes and looks at Kuroo with wide eyes.

The man behind the desk raises an eyebrow. “You know you didn’t have to sign in separately. There’s an option for you to put how many people are visiting with you.”

“We’re not together,” Daichi says quickly, and Kuroo opens his mouth and shuts it again.

“I see,” the man says. “Well. You can take him out one at a time, then. Usually it’s first come, first serve as far as applications go, but since you walked in the door together…” He shrugs. “I’ll let you fight it out.”

“We can just take him out together,” Kuroo says, and Daichi looks at him again. Kuroo glances back and shrugs. “If you don’t mind, that is.”

Daichi isn’t sure if he minds or not. He’s spent weeks looking for this exact dog, and now someone is threatening his chance of adopting him. But Kuroo is...nice. And funny. 

_ And handsome _ , says his brain.

“No, I don’t mind,” Daichi says.

The employee looks back and forth between the two of them and shakes his head. “Right, well. You’ll both have to leave your keys here to take him out. Liability issue.”

Daichi fishes his keys out of his pocket and Kuroo does the same, and then they follow the man back to the adoption floor. Barking overwhelms them from all sides; dogs of every shape and size wag happily as they walk past. Kyo is in the last cage on the left. The man enters his cage, leashes him up, and brings him out to Kuroo and Daichi, holding the leash between the two of them.

Kuroo looks at Daichi. “Go ahead,” he says, waving his hand.

Cautiously Daichi takes the leash. “We can switch halfway,” he says.

Kuroo nods agreeably, and they walk through the door back to the outside.

The walk is quiet, at first. Kyo stops and sniffs at several different plants. He is, as the website had promised, an excellent walker who doesn’t pull at all and heels whenever Daichi requests that he do so. 

“I thought you were adopting a cat,” Daichi says after a few minutes, and Kuroo chuckles.

“You assumed I was adopting a cat,” Kuroo corrects him. “I just didn’t tell you otherwise.” Daichi huffs, and Kuroo laughs at him again. “I’m not wrong.”

“You’re not,” Daichi agrees. “What drew you to Kyo?”

Kuroo shrugs. “I just felt the connection, you know? I saw his picture and just felt it was right.”

Daichi falls silent. He’s gonna have to let Kuroo adopt Kyo. There’s no way he can take him home and not feel incredibly guilty about it for the rest of his life, not when he’d be thinking of Kuroo every time he looked at Kyo.

“What about you?” Kuroo asks.

Daichi startles and bites his lip. “Same thing, I guess,” he says, feeling super lame.

Kuroo narrows his eyes. “You seem like the sort of guy who’s been looking for weeks for the perfect dog and knew exactly what he was looking for, not the kind of guy to go off a feeling like I did.”

Daichi stops in his tracks, and Kuroo continues on for a moment before realizing and turning back to them.

“Did I say something wrong?”

“No.” Daichi shakes his head. “Actually you said everything right. It was kind of spooky.”

Kuroo grins. “Kenma says I’m like that. He’s my roommate, the owner of the demon cat. We’ve been best friends since we were kids. I don’t know why I’m telling you all of this.”

Daichi makes his way over to a bench under a gazebo, and he and Kuroo sit down. Kyo sits happily between them, his tail wagging slowly as they both offer him pets. “People tell me things all the time. Suga says I look like the kind of guy you can trust,” Daichi offers. “Suga is one of my roommates. The other is Asahi. I’ve known them since high school.”

Daichi doesn’t mention that they’re dating; he doesn’t think Kuroo would care, but he doesn’t want to risk it, either. He really likes Kuroo.

He...really likes Kuroo. Which is a huge inconvenience.

“How’d you meet?” Kuroo asks, stepping into Daichi’s thoughts again.

“Volleyball,” Daichi answers. “We were all first years together.”

Kuroo’s resulting smile is brilliant. “You played volleyball? What position? I was a middle blocker for my team all through high school and college.”

“Wing spiker,” Daichi answers. “Suga and I quit after high school, but Asahi still plays for a local team.”

“We should play together sometime,” Kuroo says, and Daichi looks up at him. Kuroo blinks slowly. “If...if you want, of course.”

Kyo rests his head on Daichi’s thigh, and Daichi breaks eye contact with Kuroo to look down at him. His huge brown eyes meet Daichi’s, and his tail thumps against the ground.

“That sounds great,” Daichi says, still looking down at the dog. 

Kuroo’s hands slip away from behind Kyo’s ears, and Daichi glances up again to see them folded neatly in his lap. “So what are we gonna do about this guy?”

Daichi sighs as Kyo’s eyes fall shut. “I can’t take him away from you. You have a connection.”

“It’s your lap he’s half-asleep on,” Kuroo says.

“But you felt it,” Daichi argues.

Kuroo shrugs. “I feel a lot of things. I’m feeling like I should stop for breakfast on the way home. I’m feeling like there’s more to you than you’re showing me right now. I’m feeling like the demon cat is causing trouble somewhere in my apartment right now.”

Daichi laughs softly. Kyo yawns and looks up at Kuroo, and Daichi imagines him saying  _ why did you stop petting me? _ Kuroo must get the memo, because he resumes his ministrations behind Kyo’s ears.

“I’ll tell you what,” Kuroo says. “I think it’s only fair that you should get to adopt him, since you were here before me.”

Daichi frowns. “I really can’t--”

Kuroo holds up a hand. “But you have to give me your number.”

Daichi freezes, his heart pounding in his chest. Is Kuroo asking what he thinks he’s asking? “How is that a fair exchange?” 

“You can invite me over for playdates,” Kuroo says, and Daichi’s heart simultaneously slows and sinks. “We can get together for that volleyball game.”

Daichi hesitates, his bottom lip worried between his teeth. “You’re really satisfied with that?”

Kuroo looks down at Kyo with a soft smile on his face, and Daichi tries not to melt into a puddle. “We’ll see each other, won’t we, buddy?”

Kyo’s tail thumps hard on the ground. 

Kuroo stands, and Daichi follows suit. He offers the leash to Kuroo. “If you’re gonna be helping take care of him, you better start now.”

Kuroo huffs a laugh and snatches the leash away from Daichi as they begin to walk the path back toward the shelter. Daichi shoves his hands in his hoodie pocket so he doesn’t do something stupid like try to hold the one that Kuroo’s swinging at his side. He briefly imagines explaining this encounter to Asahi and Suga when he gets home.

Suga’s gonna lose their shit.

After they reach the shelter again, Kyo goes back in his kennel while Kuroo and Daichi return to the lobby. The shelter employee with the blond hair crosses his arms behind the front desk.

“Am I gonna have to clean up blood in my lobby?” he asks.

Kuroo shakes his head. “Sa’amura got here first. He gets first say.”

The employee looks to Daichi for confirmation, and Daichi offers him a shrug. He hands over the paperwork on a clipboard, and Daichi goes to one of the uncomfortable chairs and begins to fill it out. 

“Was there a different dog you wanted to see?” the employee asks Kuroo.

“Not today, I don’t think,” Kuroo answers. “I think I found what I came here to find.”

Daichi’s face burns. Could it be possible Kuroo’s into him the way he’s into Kuroo?

“Whatever,” the employee says. Kuroo comes over and sits next to Daichi just as he’s filling in his family name on the form.

“S - A -  _ W _ \- A - M - U - R - A,” Daichi says aloud.

Kuroo elbows him. “You spelled your name wrong.”

Daichi rolls his eyes as Kuroo grins. “What are you still doing here, anyway? If there’s not another dog you wanted to look at.”

“You promised me your phone number,” Kuroo reminds him. “I’m not leaving till we’ve got a date set up.”

Daichi doesn’t look up from his paperwork. He wonders if Kuroo notices the way his hand stills as it’s filling in information. “Right,” he manages eventually. “A playdate. With Kyo.”

“You gonna keep that name?” Kuroo asks conversationally, even as Daichi struggles to breathe.

Daichi grips his pen a little tighter. “Seems appropriate enough, all things considered. As long as Suga and Asahi have no objections.”

Kuroo nods. “What do you think they’ll think of our date?”

Daichi briefly considers stabbing the pen through his opposite hand. “I’m sure they’ll be fine with you coming over for a playdate.”

“I plan to come over for many dates,” Kuroo answers, and Daichi’s throat constricts painfully.

He fills out the paperwork as quickly as he can, managing replies to Kuroo’s constant questioning, although when he looks back on it later he can’t remember a single thing they said to each other. He stands and hurries to the desk when he’s finished. There are formalities, then; the employee looks over all the paperwork and explains about Kyo’s medical and behavioral history, asks a bunch of questions about whether Daichi would like insurance and benefits at the local pet store, makes him sign a contract agreeing to treat Kyo properly. Finally he disappears to the back to retrieve the dog, and Daichi turns to Kuroo.

“You could’ve just pulled it off my form, you know,” he says, willing his voice not to shake. “I know you were watching everything I filled out.”

“You expect to spend as much money as needed on Kyo and you evidently work as a firefighter in Sendai,” Kuroo drawls, and Daichi raises an eyebrow. “Your roommates are both teachers and you’ve lived together six months.”

“You see my point,” Daichi says.

The shelter employee reappears, then, with Kyo bounding ahead of him. He jumps up and licks Daichi’s face, then goes over to Kuroo and does the same.

“Good luck with...that,” the employee says, as Kuroo laughs and holds Kyo by the legs and dances with him. 

Daichi sighs. “I have a feeling I’m gonna need it. Come on, Kyo. Let’s go home.”

Kyo leads the way out the door, and Kuroo follows just after them. Daichi walks over to his car, where he’s got the backseat set up with blankets for Kyo. Kuroo leans against the hood.

“You got a pen?” Daichi asks once he’s got Kyo settled. 

Kuroo slips his phone out of his back pocket, unlocks it, and hands it to Daichi. “Even better.”

Daichi is silent as he inputs his number into Kuroo’s phone. He makes to hand it back to Kuroo, then thinks better of it and tugs it away as Kuroo reaches for it.

“What gives?” Kuroo asks.

Daichi takes a deep breath. “What did you mean? When you said you’d found what you were looking for?”

Kuroo swallows. “I thought it was obvious enough.”

“I’ll admit I’m pretty dense about this sort of thing,” Daichi says. “You’ll have to be pretty obvious to get it through to me.”

Kuroo nods slowly. “I can do obvious.”

He moves in toward Daichi and grabs the front of his hoodie. There’s barely any space between them now, and Kuroo looks down into Daichi’s eyes, his breath held in his throat, waiting for Daichi to give him a sign. Daichi closes his eyes and closes the gap between them, and their lips meet in a kiss that starts hesitant and quickly turns heated. Kuroo is an excellent kisser who seems to know exactly where to lean and how to move his mouth to drive Daichi crazy. Kuroo’s lips part slightly, and Daichi runs his tongue over them. Kuroo’s hands wind around Daichi’s neck, and Daichi sighs contentedly into Kuroo’s mouth. 

In the backseat, Kyo barks once, loudly, and they jump away from each other. 

Kuroo’s grinning his sly grin when Daichi catches his eye again, and it makes Daichi huff out a laugh as he raises his hand to touch his swollen lips. 

“I think I get it now,” he says, and Kuroo’s grin grows wider.

“Text me soon,” he says. He touches Daichi’s cheek tenderly, and Daichi leans into it. “We can set up a date.”

“Playdate or date date?” Daichi asks.

Kuroo shakes his head and leans in to kiss Daichi again, short and soft. “Why can’t it be both?” he asks against Daichi’s lips. Daichi smiles.

“Both sounds good to me.”

**Author's Note:**

> Kyo means cooperation, hence it being an appropriate name for him.  
> Title from "I Am Easy to Find" by the National.  
> Thanks to Sam, Becca, and Gray 💙 Also Lozza and Enno for letting me bounce ideas off you, and Yana for validating me!


End file.
